Valve mechanism



Feb. 10. 1925. 1,525,462

J. A. NELSON VALVE MECHANI SM Filed April 8- 924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR Feb. V10. 1925. 1,525,462

J. A. NELSON VALVE MECHANISM Filed Apri 8. 1924 2. Sheets-sheaf. 2 5K 64w Z I v M v I) i 39 16 17 I I [I pvy Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

UNITED'JSTATES:

PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN ALBERT NELSON, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO KEYSTONE "MA'CHINE 8t ENGINEERING COMPANLOF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF-PENNSYLVANIA.

VALVE MECHANISM.

Application filed. April 8, 1924. Serial No. 704,956.-

To all whom z't-may concern:

Be it known that I, J QHN'ALBERT. NEL- SONytE citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Oil City, county of Venango', and "State ofPennsylvania, have invented a newand usefulslmprovement in ValveMechanism, of which the. following is a full, clear, and

feet-1y balanced valve which is highly sen-- sitive to variations of thepressures on opposite sides'ot' the diaphragm with no tendencyiof thevvalve to stick in the closed position thereof.

A preferred embodiment of my invention. is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View illus tratmg themanner in which the valve mechanism is associated wltha meter, for

measuring theflow of aliquid through. a venturi,

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the valve mechanism Figure 3 is aview,-partly in elevation and partly in section, of 'the balanced valve;

Figure i is a section: of the balanced valve, taken at rightcangles tothe view of Figure 3;

Figure- 5 .is a detail view; and- Figure 6 is a section on line VIVI ofFigure 3.

Referring first to Figure 1, 2 indicates aventuriand 3 a meter formeasuring the flow'of water or other fluid through the venturi.Interposed between the meter and venturi is valve mechanism 4 embodyingmy invention. This mechanism comprises a housing 5 having supportinglegs 6- and 7. The housing has a diaphragm .8 held there in which isoperatively connected to the valve 9. Fluid enters'the housing on theleft-hand side of the diaphragm through .seatfor suchvalve member.

a pipe 10 leading from the portion. 11 of the venturiof smallestdiameter, whilepfluid -;enters--the housing on the right-hand side-05fthe diaphragm through a larger pipe 12 1 leading from a portion 13 ofthe venturi having a diameter correspondingto that of v the main supplypipe 14. It will be apparent that, when water is flowing through theventuri, the pressure at 13 will be greaterthan at 11, so that therewill be greater pressure on the right-hand side of the .dia:. phragmthan on the left-hand: side thereof.

Consequently, this difference .in tlli pressures will cause the openingof the valve 9,

through the operative connection between the valve and diaphragm, andwaterwill flow. past the valve and through the pipe 15 to the meter.

The" valve comprises a valve casing 16 having; a flange 17 provided withopenings.- 18 whereby the casing is bolted? inside the housing 5. .Thevalve casing has a portion 19 oflset from the flange l7 and adapted toextend through a suitable opening in a side 7 wall :of the housing 5,the flange 17 being bolted. to such side wall with a suitable packinginterposed between the flangeand side -wall. The ofi'set portion 19 ofthe valve casing has a threaded opening 20 through the same into whichone end-of the pipe 15 leading to the meter is tapped. The

valve-casing has a portion 21 offset from the opposite side of theflange 17 which has 26 and 27 also of exactly the same diameter.

The valve member 26 is positioned above the upper wall 24 and is seatedin the opening 22, the upper circular edge of such opening formingthe'valve seat for such valve memher. On the otherv hand, the valvemember 27 is positioned within the valve chamber 28 and is seated inthe'opening 23, the circular.

upper edge of said opening forming-the Surrounding the valve members 26and 27 is a plurality of pins-29 which are threadedthrough the upperwall 24 and constitute a cage for the valve members.

The offset portion 21 of the valve casing has a flange 30 projectingtherefrom parallel to the wall 31 of the valve casing. A curved valvelever 32 is pivoted between the flange 30 and the wall 31. The pivotalconnection for the lever is formed by means of a pin 33 fitted in anintermediate portion of the lever and having pointed ends, one of whichengages in a depression 34 in the wall 31, and the other of whichengages in the recessed end of a set screw 35 tapped through the flange30 and held in adjusted position by means of a lock nut 36.

One end 37 of the valve lever 32 is adapted to engage the lower side ofthe valve member 27 and the other end 38 of the valve lever is adaptedto engage the upper side of the valve member 26. Interposed between thevalve members 26 and 27 is a spacer 39 in the form of a sleeve, thelength of which is such that, when the valve members are resting upontheir seats, the spacer engages both members without any play betweenthe spacer and the valve members. This distance between the end edges 37and 38 of the valve lever is also approximately equal to the distancebetween the lowest point on the surface of the valve member 27 and thehighest point on the valve member 26 when these valve members areresting upon their seats. In the position of the parts as shown inFigure 3, both valve members are resting upon their seats, and it willbe apparent that, if the valve lever 32 is rocked in acounter-cloclnvise direction, both valve members will be raised an equalamount away from their seats.

1 The operative connection between the diaphragm 8 and the valve leveris shown in Figure 2. The housing has a removable side 40 and thediaphragm is clamped be tween the flange 41 of such side and a flange 42on the housing by means of bolts 43. Metallic protecting plates 44 and45 are positioned on opposite sides of the diaphragm and parallel rods46 and 47 have one end thereof projecting through these plates and thediaphragm, nuts 48 being mounted upon such end of each rod on oppositesides of the diaphragm and plates, whereby the plates are clamped to thediaphragm and the rods are supported by the plates. Rods 46 and 47 areconnected at their opposite ends by a cross bar 49 through which the endof each rod extends. Nuts 50 are mounted on the rods on opposite sidesof the cross bar, whereby the latter is held in position on the rods. Astem 51 extends through the central portion of the plates 44 and 45 andthrough the diaphragm and is secured to the plates by nuts 52 mounted onthe stem on opposite sides of the diaphragm. This'stem projects throughan opening 53 in a hollow plug 54 (shown in detail in Figure 5) which isexteriorly'threaded and tapped into the removable wall 40 of the housing5. This plug has a wrench engaging projection 55 at the end opposite theopening 53. The edge of the opening 53 is beveled so as to provide aknife edge for engagement with the stem 51 to thereby reduce frictionbetween the stem and edge of the opening. The cross bar 49 has a stem56, corresponding to the stem 51, mounted thereon and this stem projectsinto an opening in a hollow plug 57 similar to the plug 54, the plug 57being tapped into a wall of the housing 5. It will be seen that theplates 44 and 45, rods 46 and 47 and cross bar 49 constitute a framewhich is supported for reciprocation by means of the stems 51 and 56projecting into the plugs 54 and 57. The rod 46 has a sleeve 58 slidablymounted thereon and having a flange 59 at one end thereof. The rod alsohas a similar sleeve 60 fixed thereon by means of a set screw 61, saidsleeve having a flange 62 corresponding to the flange 59 at one endthereof. A coil spring 63 is interposed between the sleeve 58 and thenut 48 on rod 46 and tends to urge the sleeve 58 toward the fixed sleeve60. The upper end of the valve lever 32 has a circular lug 64 projectingtherefrom and positioned between the flanges 59 and 62 on the sleeves 58and 60. It will be seen that motion of the diaphragm 8 imparted theretoby reason of differences in pressures on the opposite sides thereof willbe imparted to the lever 32, tending to rock the same in one directionor the other, and thereby effecting the seating or unseating of thevalve members 26 and 27.

Since the openings 22 and 23, the upper edges of which constitute theseats for the valve members 26 and 27, are of exactly the same diameter,the pressure of the fluid on the lower valve member 27 tending to openthe valve is exactly balanced by the pressure on the upper valve member26 tending to maintain the valve closed. Furthermore, the fluid passingthrough the valve maintains the spherical valve members 26 and 27 inconstant motion, revolving these valve members upon the ends of thespacer 39, the valve members whirling first about one aXis and thenabout another, so that there is absolutely no tendency to wear the valvemembers unevenly. As a matter of fact, there is no tendency to wear thevalve members at all by reason of the fact that the entire surface ofeach valve member is constantly lubricated by the fluid passing throughthe valve. The construction is such, therefore, that there is notendency of the valve members to stick when seated, so that theslightest difference in pressures on the opposite ides of the diaphragmis effective to open the valve.

' While I have shown and described apreferred embodimentof myinvention,- it will be understood that changes may be made in the.details of construction shown without departing from the spirit of theinvention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Valve mechanism, comprising a diaphragm and a valve controlledthereby, said valve comprising a valve chamber having an outlet openingand a pair of axially alined circular inlet openings in the wallsthereof, a spherical valve member co-operating with each of said inletopenings, a spacer interposed between said valve members and engagingeach of them when seated in said inlet openings, and a pivotedvalve-operating lever operatively connected to said diaphragm foractuation thereby and having end surfaces arranged for engagement withsaid valve members, the latter being ar ranged between said endsurfaces, substantially as described.

2. Valve mechanism, comprising a dia phragm and a valve controlledthereby, said valve comprising a valve chamber having an outlet openingand a pair of axially alined circular inlet openings of the samediameter in the walls thereof, spherical valve members of the samediameter arranged to seat in said inlet openings on corresponding sidesthereof, a spacer interposed between said valve members and engagingeach of them when seated in said inlet openings. and a pivotedvalve-operating lever operatively connected to said diaphragm foractuation thereby and having end surfaces arranged for engagement withsaid valve members, the latter being arranged between said end surfaces,substantially as described,

3. Valve mechanism, comprising a diaphragm and a valve controlledthereby, said valve comprising a valve chamber having an outlet openingand a pair of vertically spaced axially alined circular inlet openingsof the same diameter in the walls thereof, spherical valve members ofthe same diameter arranged to seat upon the upper circular edges of saidinlet openings, a spacer interposed between said valve members and engaging each of them when seated in said inlet openings, said spacerhaving recessed ends providing seats for said valve members, and apivoted valve-operating lever operatively connected to said diaphragmfor actuation thereby and having end surfaces arranged for engagementwith said valve members, the latter being arranged between said endsurfaces, substantially as described.

at. Valve mechanism, comprising a housing having a diaphragm dividingthe interior thereof into two compartments, a valve chamber in one ofsaid compartments having an outlet opening and a pair of verticallyspaced axially alined inlet openings of t 1 sam diametee e wal s thereospherical valve members ofthe same dia-meter arranged to seat upontheupper c cu,- la-r edges of said inlet openings, a spacer interposedbetween said valve members and engaging each of them when seatedinsa-idinlet openings, a pivoted valve-operating lever having end surfacesarranged for engagement with said valve members, the latter beingarranged between said end surfaces, means operatively connecting saiddiaphragm with said lever whereby the latter is actuated by saiddiaphragm, a pin projecting from each end of said connecting means, andmeans carried'by said housing for slidably supporting said pins,substantially as described.

5. Valve mechanism, comprising a housing having a diaphragm dividing theinterior thereof into two compartments, a valve chamber in one of saidcompartments having an outlet opening and a pair of vertically spacedaxially alined inlet openings of the same diameter in the walls thereof,spherical valve members of the same diameter arranged to seat upon theupper circular edges of said inlet openings, a spacer interposed betweensaid valve members and en gaging each of them when seated in said inletopenings, a pivoted valve-operating lever having end surfaces arrangedfor engagement with said valve members, the latter being arrangedbetween said end surfaces, means operatively connectin said diaphragmwith said lever whereby the latter is actuated by said diaphragm, a pinprojecting from each end of said connecting means, and hollow plugsmounted in the walls of said housing and aflording knifeedge slidingsupports for said pins, substantially as described.

6. A valve, comprising a valve casing having an outlet opening and apair of axially alined circular inlet openings \of the same diameter inthe walls thereof, a pair of spherical valve members of the samediameter arranged to seat in said inlet openings upon correspondingsides thereof, means for guiding the movements of said valve memberstoward and from their seats, a spacer interposed between said valvemembers and engaging each of them when seated in said inlet openings,and a pivoted valve-operating lever having end surfaces arranged forengagement with said valve members, the latter being positioned betweensaid end surfaces, substantially as described.

7. A valve, comprising a valve casing having parallel upper and lowerwalls provided with axially alined circular inlet openings of the samediameter therein, a pair of spherical valve members of the same diameterarranged to seat upon the upper circular edges of said inlet openings, aplurality of pins extending through the upper of said parallel walls andsurrounding said valve valve members, the latter being positionedmembers to form a cage therefor, a tubular between said end surfaces,substantially as spacer interposed between said valve memdescribed. 10bers and engaging each of them when seated In testimony whereof I havehereunto set in said inlet openings, and a valve-operating my hand.

lever pivoted to said casing and having end surfaces arranged forengagement with said JOHN ALBERT NELSON.

